Page 494 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

Runaway Product ons and the Global zat on of Hollywood |

Chris haddoCk
Canadian writer and director Chris Haddock is an example of the new cross-border cul-
tural producer that has emerged from the globalization of the Hollywood industry. Haddock
gained experience writing for the American runaway action-adventure series MacGyver,
which filmed in Vancouver in the 1980s. The professional network and experience he devel-
oped in the locations industry enabled him to establish his own production company, and he
now develops crime and suspense dramas for both American and Canadian television net-
works. He was the first producer to sell a Canadian television series to a major U.S. broadcast
network: CBS. This series, Da Vinci’s Inquest, was already a prime-time hit for the Canadian
Broadcasting Company (CBC) and became a critical and audience success in the United
States, where it was acclaimed for its edgy feel and unique storytelling (and it did not even
hide the fact that it was set in Canada). The series has been sold in 85 countries and Had-
dock continues to develop new television and film projects for both Canadian and American
distribution.

Vancouver was able to edge out other Canadian cities, such as Toronto and
Montreal, in the competition for American runaways because of the province’s
unique physical landscape. The diversity of locations available in a coastal prov-
ince that also includes a glacier mountain range and a dry, rugged interior region
means that producers can find almost any type of natural setting to suit their
stories. Vancouver can be, and has been, the stand-in for Tibet, Montana, Cali-
fornia, and numerous other places. The added bonus for American producers is
that they can oversee their productions in Vancouver and—within the span of a
two-hour flight—be back in Los Angeles for office meetings or family time. This
confluence of factors earned the city the moniker “Hollywood North” and made
it the global model for other aspiring runaway locations cities.

runaways as ouTsourCing
Canada’s success in attracting and keeping American runaways generated
a heated response from members of the Los Angeles production community.
They argued that every job offered to a Canadian actor or crew member was one
that was lost to an American and, at the same time, every dollar spent on pro-
duction in Canada was one not invested in the United States. They saw runaway
productions as similar to other forms of labor outsourcing, such as that found
in the automobile and information technology industries, in an age of economic
globalization. Consequently, the major audiovisual labor unions—including
the Directors Guild, Producers Guild, Screen Actors Guild, and Writers Guild,
among dozens of others—came together to form the Runaway Production Al-
liance, an association that lobbied the American government to introduce leg-
islation that would stem the tide of economic runaways from Hollywood. In
1999, the Directors Guild and the Screen Actors Guild commissioned a study
that found that the number of runaway productions between 1990 and 1998